


School Reunion (Let's break into the Academy)

by Rae_Saxon



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (Big Finish Audio)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, M/M, The Deca - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:22:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21922126
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rae_Saxon/pseuds/Rae_Saxon
Summary: The Doctor is returning to Gallifrey. Finally. Properly. Well. For a day. To an old meeting of the Deca. Well, a school reunion, technically, but what did she care about anyone who wasn't the Mas...... the Deca?
Relationships: The Doctor | Theta Sigma/The Master | Koschei (Doctor Who: Academy Era), The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Thirteenth Doctor/The Master (Simm)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 133





	School Reunion (Let's break into the Academy)

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to write something Christmassy, utterly failed, wanted to write something Doctor/Master-ly, halfly failed, and now you have this lovely little scene filled with nothingness, presented, to you, one evening before Christmas. | You don't need to know more about the Deca than what is in the tags. Really. Because neither do I.

It was cold, icy almost, on the Academy grounds, white pearls on the red grasses of Gallifrey, telling of inter, while the two suns were hiding away behind grey clouds.

The Doctor didn't mind awfully much. With a smile, she took one deep breath after another, watching it steam out in little clouds as she took in the familiar air, smelling of home and childhood.

Sod the dusty old Time Lords who had made her time here unbearable, this wasn't about them, this was about returning to something she hadn't thought she could ever return to.

"And a merry Christmas to me,"she hummed happily, as she heard the frozen blades of grass crunch beneath her feet. Of course, Time Lords had no concept of Christmas – The closest they had ever gotten to worshipping a deity was Rassilon. And nobody wanted to dedicate holidays to him any more... or so she hoped.

But something about it, about the cold, the white crystals spreading over the wide grasses, the ice on the sea, the feeling of finally, truly having returned home... it had become something she had found to connect with Christmas after all her travels.

"And why ever not?"she muttered into the air, let the words get carried away through the rustling leaves. "It's one of the nicest things out there. Kindness and warmth on cold winter days. The complete opposite of.... them.“

But there were some Time Lords she was looking forward to seeing again. Just some. Just enough to keep her from regretting to have had come back.

And one of their voices now carried over to her, through the fields, where she could now see a camping fire sparkling and crackling in the distance – Almost more inviting than the name she was now being called, a name she had once hated, but now, when she had thought it forgotten for so long, it was actually lovely to hear it again.

"Look who it is! Theta Sigma! The prodigal son returns!“

She could see Drax and Mortimus exchange some grins as she neared them with excited steps.

"Well,"Drax added sheepishly. "Or something like that.“

"Still prodigal, I promise you,"the Doctor joked, as she finally reached them. "Look at you! Here! Really, properly, here!“

They shared another grin, then dragged the Doctor into a tight hug. She enjoyed it, until she felt a hand that she assumed was Mortimus's rub her head just a _little_ too painfully.

She supposed that was just part of the deal when half of your school friends turned into an arch enemy of sorts.

The Rani waved awkwardly, not really interested in any kind of hugging, as usual, but still happy to stand with the others and apparently having a nice little chat with Magnus – Oh dear. She was going to have to keep an eye on _them_.

Awkwardly, the Doctor tried pushing her old friends away with a grimace and a laugh, when she heard a far too familiar voice behind her.

"Hey Monk, do me a favour, leave me something to destroy after you're done.“

Everyone stopped moving immediately, finally giving the Doctor a chance of escape. She turned around to the Master with a grin.

"Best if he didn't, really, it seems to me you never quite manage.“

"Ohhhh,"Drax laughed. "She got you there!“

"Look at that. Our famous leader. Big, bad, dangerous Master. Should we all kneel now?“

"Oh please,"the Doctor laughed. "Don't play into his narcissism, it'll destroy the century long work I did.“

The Master snorted, but allowed the others to pull him into the same, slightly painful hug.

Drax let his eyes wander towards the Doctor.

"Ohhh, look at her, watching jealously. Still not over that crush, are you?“

The Doctor blushed immediately.

"Rubbish,"she swiftly assured them, trying to sound more serene than she felt right now. "We're enemies, remember? Can't just go around hugging my enemies, can I?“

The Meddling Monk raised one of his bloody treacherous eyebrows.

With a roll of her eyes, the Doctor added. "Plus, you're all in the way!"She waved her hands to gesture at them, making little "shoo shoo"noises as she stepped towards the Master.

He was still laughing, when she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, trying not to give herself any moment to stop and think, and instead hanging onto him like a particular affectionate koala bear.

He seemed stiff in surprise for a few moments, then hesitatingly laid his arms around her, patting her back awkwardly.

The Doctor could hear the other's badly veiled giggles behind her.

"Look at that. Theta and Koschei, reunited. And like 900 years ago, they only have eyes for each other.“

The laughter around them grew and she would've almost joined in, if it wasn't for the Master flinching in his arms.

"You okay?"she whispered, and he shrugged, pulling a grimace.

"Been a while I heard that name,"he whispered back and she grinned.

He would have to simply get used to it, because their friends didn't seem to give a damn about any other names than the ones they had met with a millennium ago.

For a while, it was as if time had never passed, just stood still, here on the grounds. More and more people joined their little gathering, got into their own groups, stood together stiffly, no one laughing as loud as their little group, and no one paid them any attention. They were nothing but a few renegades returning to a planet, a school that had never wanted them and still rather had them stay away.

So naturally, they were having none of it.

"Let's break into the school,"Mortimus suggested with husked voice, as he rubbed his hands together in the cold.

The Doctor grimaced.

"Oh, must we really?“  
  
"Yeah,"the Master agreed. "Never really wanted to see that thing from the inside ever again.“

"But it's _warm_ ,"Mortimus insisted, which gained him Ushas' attention.

"It is a bit cold,"she confirmed and when Drax' reported with a grin that he was excellent at breaking locks, it seemed decided.

"What sort of a school reunion is this anyway,"Magnus added as they made their way up to the grounds. "If we can't even get into the school but instead are expected to freeze our asses outside on the grounds?“

"Oh please,"the Doctor laughed. "You didn't really expect anyone to want us here, did you? They are tolerating us on the grounds, and that's only because no one expected _us_ to come.“

Magnus replied with nothing but a stare so icy, it was colder than the winter air around them.

She glanced at the Master for help, and he laughed.

"Wow, what did you do to piss him off?“

The Doctor shrugged sheepishly. "Stopped some wild scheme of his in my second incarnation. Honestly though, that was hundreds of years ago.“

The Master grinned widely.

"You can't expect everyone to be as forgiving an arch enemy as I am.“

"Ohhhh please!"the Doctor replied with a roll of her eyes. "Don't make me laugh. But seriously. I must've stopped Mortimus at least seven times in the last decade. He doesn't mind.... _terribly_ much.“

"I can hear you,"the Monk called from in front of them, without even turning around. "And believe me, I minded. But it's Deca evening and I won't let your bloody heroism ruin that.“

"See?"the Doctor turned to the Master, lowering her voice. "Didn't mind at all.“

The Master just soundlessly laughed.

It turned out Drax wasn't all that good at breaking locks after all. They were standing in the cold for ten minutes, as he fidgeted with the lock, until the Rani announced to everyone that it wasn't any surprise he got arrested by humans for ten years if this was the quality with which he committed crimes – At which point the Master simply melted the locks away with his laser screwdriver.

Angrily muttering about how he could've just done that in the first place - and to maybe give a warning next time – Drax pushed open the doors and hastily waved them all inside. Giggling and laughing, the little group invaded the familiar entrance walls of the Academy, all of them sighing in relief at the warmth welcoming them in.

"I feel like a little boy again,"the Doctor grinned, as they sneaked through the aisles, looking for an empty class room to hide out in.

"Except that we used to break out of this place,"the Master added grumpily.

But the Doctor found she didn't mind all that much. Yes, she had hated this place, had hated the rules, the walls attempting to smother her, the sticky classrooms, the boring exams and lessons, but this had been a happy place, too. This had been where they had all met each other, challenged each other every day, to new ways of thinking, new experiments, new trouble, where they had first broken out of the ever same ways of the Time Lords and found their own paths.

This was where she had first met Koschei.

He had almost been shy before they had met, kept himself in the background, spent all his days learning and reading, until she had opened him up, just a tiny little bit and he had become the adventurous rebel she'd fallen for, the other part of her soul, the one she knew better than herself, the one holding her in dark nights, the one she had shared her mind with for the very first time.

So much time had passed, but in these halls, with him by her side, the same crooked grin on his lips, the same gleam in his dark eyes, it was almost as if they were kids again, running through the stone aisles, one chasing after the other, because they had yet again destroyed each others projects in a silly joke.

She threw him a little side glance, smiling hesitantly and before he could react, Drax was standing next to them, one hand around the Doctor's hip, and wriggling his eyebrows.

"Rassilon, will you two ever stop flirting?“

"Sure will,"the Doctor replied dryly. "Considering you're always here to tease us about it.“

Drax threw his head back, laughing.

"Yeah well, it's almost unhealthy how little you two have changed. Aren't you enemies or something?“

The Master shrugged.

"Today we're not.“

"Oh, so there's days you try and kill each other and on other days you just put that aside and have sex like rabbits? Incredible.“

The Doctor gave him an indignant look.

"Sex like... what? We don't...“

The Master, on the other hand, had stepped very close to Drax, glaring darkly and firmly at his hands around the Doctor's hip, growling.

With a jump, Drax let go of her and very quickly got involved in a conversation about how to build your own means of transport with Magnus, giving the Master nervous glances whenever he thought he wasn't looking.

The Doctor rolled her eyes with a laugh.

"Poor him, you know that he was always a little scared of you.“

"As he should be,"the Master replied proudly and – The Doctor's hearts made a jump – wrapped his own arm around her hip.

Mortimus and Drax exchanged some looks and even Magnus seemed to suddenly have interest in talking to the Doctor. The Rani opened a door and waved them all into an unused classroom, locking the doors behind them with a device that the Doctor decided to question on another day.

"Actually, there's something we wanted to ask,"Mortimus began and the other two began giggling like school boys as soon as he started speaking.

She caught the Master's gaze, who was simply shrugging.

"So we had a bet...."Drax explained a little breathless. "And Mortimus is sure he has won because... of.... things....“

Magnus broke into laughter now.

"But Magnus and I, we're not so sure, so... real talk. Which one of you _tops_?“

"What?"the Master asked, frowning, while the Doctor buried her face in her palms, shaking it lightly. "What does that mean, _tops_?“

"It's this thing Drax caught up on on Earth,"Mortimus laughed and the Doctor began whimpering. "It's... you know... about who leads... the dance.... Who... has the upper hand, if you will.“

The Master still looked taken aback, looking from one to the other, clearly waiting for a more satisfactory answer.

Through the hands still covering her rapidly blushing face, the Doctor muttered, "They want to know who's the dominant one during sex. Which, by the way, is a completely wrong way of using "topping“, not everyone who's on the top has to be dominant and...“

"Just tell us who,"all three of them replied in absolute unison. The Rani, rolling her eyes so much, they might forever stay on the inside of her head, drew construction plans on the blackboard and the Master had started laughing so hard, he could hardly breathe.

"His name's the 'Master',"the Doctor squeaked with unusual high voice. "Who do you think. Idiots.“

They all exchanged looks.

"So they do have sex,"Drax brought out and all three of them broke out into laughter at the same time, not calming down for quite some time.

The Doctor dryly looked at the Master, who was joining in.

He shrugged and raised his eyebrows, as if to say "They got you good“.

Yes. Well, the Doctor thought. Fair enough.

"Not lately,"she said, sweetly and just loud enough for everyone to hear her over the laughter. "Good old Koschei here was a bit too busy getting it up for _himself_.“

Everyone fell quiet, as the Master turned to her with a stony face.

"That happened once! And she pressed me against a wall and.... once!“

"Oh please, we were on that ship for weeks and the kids told me of all the _spooky_ noises they heard from your bedroom.“

"Fine. On one occasion. Several times. But basically only once!“

Drax looked like he was about to suffocate from laughing alone, his red went red and tears were running down his streak, and the others too were laughing again.

The Master gave her death glares, but the Doctor just grinned.

They sat together the whole day. The suns were slowly sinking down and they were still talking. After having caught up on everyone's latest misdeeds and adventures - the Doctor mostly pretending not to listen – The Doctor listened for a while with a worried frown, as the Rani, the Meddling Monk and the War Chief gathered together to make plans, with Drax in the middle, shouting half-serious, half-ridicilous suggestions into the room. When he finally suggested to maybe set some chairs on fire so they could have their own camp fire in the classroom, the Master grabbed the Doctor's hand from behind, pulling her towards him, as warm breath stroked her ear.

"Let's get out of here.“

She looked up, but no one seemed to give them any attention. With a cheeky little smile, she sneaked after the Master, out of the class room to the spot of the actual camping fire, that was nothing but a pile of mildly glowing coal at this point. The rest of the school reunion had long gone home.

"I would have loved to watch them stand next to each other awkwardly for another few hours,"the Doctor giggled into the darkness, while the Master tried his best to bring the fire back to life. "The only thing these people have to talk about are their big political achievements, one more boring than the next.“

She yawned demonstratively.

"It's hopeless,"the Master sighed as he got back up, a smudge of soot painting his cheek black. The Doctor giggled.

"It's okay, we don't need a fire.“

She turned around, looking out at the fields, who were now completely drowned in darkness. She felt like she still knew every stone, every little blade of grass.

"Let's run.“

They shared a grin, every bit as adventurous as they had always been, adrenaline surging through their bodies as they took each other's hands and ran until they ran out of breaths and their legs gave out. They let themselves fall right there, on the ground, laughing hoarsely, hands still firmly linked.

They only saw their silhouettes of the other's face, dunked into moonlight, but the stars above their heads were as clearly visible as they'd always been, but so much closer, so infinitely more possible now that they weren't kids any more.

"I guess we'll never change,"the Doctor whispered quietly after a while. "Here I am, wishing for the same damn thing I've been wishing for thousands of years ago, when we could just..."She shook her head, falling silent.

Next to her, she could hear the Master sigh, then turn his head. She turned hers to look at him, and could just see the spark in his eyes, just see the outlines of his lips, before they stroked hers, so light she thought she could've imagined it, if it wasn't for the warmth he was radiating, so perfectly contrasting the cold night air on her skin.

"Nothing has changed,"he confirmed, and somehow it had a whole different meaning than what she had said, made her hearts go faster and her lips pull to a stupid, wide smile.

"Yeah,"she said. "Theta and Koschei. Two idiots dreaming of the stars.“

"One idiot dreaming of the stars,"The Master grinned and when the Doctor looked up at him, hoping he could see her disappointed little frown in the darkness, he kissed her nose affectionately.

"I only ever dreamed of you.“


End file.
